While fasting recently, I was
overwhelmingly convicted of God's goodness in my life. I was reminded I was
healed of a brain tumor when I was seven years old. Others weren't healed of
that. I survived a heart attack 10 years ago. Others haven't. My heart stopped
three days after the heart attack while taking a heart test. They jumped my
heart back to beat again. My neighbor, younger than I, died of a heart attack
years ago and He loved God too. I just don't understand why I am still here and
others aren't. I owe everything to Him. Why He loves me I can't understand. It
makes me weep. Sensing his daily constant goodness is leading me to a life of
repentance and being merciful to others.
How Many of You are Glad to be Anywhere?
If it had not been for the Lord
on my side where would I be? When I stand up to minister I ask a question that
never fails to release an atmospheric anointing of thankfulness into people's
hearts. "How many of you are glad to be anywhere?" They laugh, but
the anointing of thanksgiving has already begun to fall upon them to start
counting their endless blessings. Then I tell them, "I am just glad to
be." Since the attack against my heart I now have a ministry of full-time
breathing! Breathing qualifies us to worship! Looking back on my trials and
life threatening events I know now that I could have been thanking the Lord in
them instead of afterwards. "In everything
give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18) When we stop thanking Him,
we take ourselves out of His perfect will.
I am learning what God wants to
hear from us when we are in the fiery flame with no strings attached. In our
sufferings we often attach strings to our prayers, like: 'if you heal me or let
me live.' I learned quickly in that emergency room what He is after.
"Father, I love you!" That's it, period! And when it's from our
hearts, I can imagine all of heaven stopping as He says to the angels,
"Stay up here, I have a personal house call. I'm going down for the nine
count rescue!"
Praise God for What Already has been Done
Have you wondered how saints of
old and present could give thanks, breaking into worship, when facing a firing
squad or being burned at stake? Could it be they were not praising God to move
Him to do anything more? They were praising Him for what He had already done in
their lives, the past miracles and deliverances and for the fact that they were
still here. Each day of their lives was a precious gift and so was this one. Eternity
beat in their hearts. They knew they were always one heartbeat away from seeing
the bigger picture of God's perfect plan for their lives. Their present fiery
trial, stoning, or pointed gun was a reminder..."Absent
from the body - present with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) They
were fully convinced God was able to deliver but if He didn't, they would go
out in a blaze of glory. "And they
overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their
testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death
..." Rev.12:11
DL Moody once said, "The day
will come when you will read in the obituary that D L Moody has died. Don't you
believe it. It is a lie. I will be more alive at that moment than I have ever
been on earth." And so will we who put our trust in Jesus Christ. We will
be alive when the stars fall from their sockets and this earth is no more. For
His goodness and mercy endures forever.
Bill Yount
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